My Way perfume began in 2020 as Armani Beauty's refillable floral built on tuberose, orange blossom and vanilla. This edit follows it through its flankers, its Armani neighbors and four florals from other houses.
My Way Perfume, or How Armani Learned to Refill
Giorgio Armani has never been shy about wanting beauty to sit next to fashion. When the makeup line arrived in 2000, he described it as an extension and complement of his collections, and the fragrances have followed the same tailored logic ever since, made under license with L'Oréal. So it says something that the house chose a name as plain as My Way for its 2020 pillar. Anyone who searches for My Way perfume lands on a scent that began on August 10 of that year as a refillable perfume, with a funnel-free refill system and a 150 ml refill bottle. At launch the house said its 50 ml bottle and that refill used 55 percent less glass than a traditional bottle. The juice was made by IFF perfumers Carlos Benaïm and Bruno Jovanovic around Calabrian bergamot, Indian tuberose, orange blossom and Madagascan vanilla, and the vanilla comes through a program with the NGO Fanamby. I like that the sourcing story is specific instead of vague. It is a floral cut like a good jacket, structured and warm. Grid one is the whole My Way family: the original, the tropical Ylang, the pear and vanilla Nectar, and a travel spray for your bag.
The Armani women's pillars
Grid two shows how Armani thinks about women's fragrance, as a set of pillars rather than one hit. Acqua di Gioia came first in 2010, all fresh lemon and water jasmine, and it reads as the Mediterranean in a good mood. Sì followed in 2013, composed by Christine Nagel, with a blackcurrant nectar opening that rides over rose and vanilla. Power of You is the tropical outlier, with a passion fruit accord and frangipani over vanilla absolute. The two-piece set gives you My Way in two sizes, which is the fastest way to find out whether it suits you. My tip is to spray Sì on one wrist and Power of You on the other and wait ten minutes. The blackcurrant fades quickly and the vanilla decides which one you actually reach for.
Four more from the Armani shelf
Florals from other houses
Grid three is where I compare My Way with other houses. Valentino's Vendetta Donna borrows the name of a scent Valentino Garavani launched in 1991; this new version was made by Dominique Ropion with Andrew Everett and is built on tuberose at its most carnal. Gucci's Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Intense is the most concentrated in the Flora collection, wrapped in artwork based on a Flora illustration Vittorio Accornero drew for Gucci in 1966. Chloé's Le Nectar is the orange blossom perfume of the group, with bergamot on top and tonka bean underneath. Henry Rose is the surprise: Michelle Pfeiffer named it for her children's middle names, and Flora Carnivora took more than two years to formulate within the brand's ingredient limits. What I would skip is judging any of these in the first ten seconds. Tuberose opens loud and settles, so give each a full hour on skin before you decide.
Four florals from other houses
How I would wear it
I would wear My Way on days that need some structure, like a meeting or a dinner with people I want to impress a little. The refill is the part I keep thinking about, because it changes what happens after the bottle is empty. Tuberose and orange blossom are strong enough that one spray at the neck and one on each wrist is plenty. Keep the travel spray in a coat pocket and top it up when the day turns into evening. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Guerlain Reimagines L'Heure Bleue, Its Original 1912 Perfume and The Two Lives Of Jean Paul Gaultier.
